Reigning and seven-time MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez says his off-season has been “harder than what I expected”, but he nonetheless feels he “must” contend for the 2026 title.

Marquez suffered a shoulder dislocation at the Indonesian Grand Prix last October when he crashed on the first lap with Marco Bezzecchi. It was an injury that did not affect the outcome of the season, since Marquez had clinched the 2025 MotoGPtitle a week before the crash, in Japan, but it meant the Spanish rider missed the last four races completely and did not ride in the post-season test in Valencia.

Heading into the off-season, and Marquez’s recovery was continuing, but not entirely to plan, he has revealed.

“One more time it was a long winter,” Marquez told MotoGP.com at the Ducati Lenovo Team launch in Madonna di Campiglio on 19 January.

“A bit harder than what I expected because in the beginning it was not bad but then we had a few difficulties that just delayed a bit the introduction of riding a bike. 

“But now, generally, we are riding in a good way and it looks like everything is working in a good way, and the main target is try to arrive at 100 per cent in Thailand.”

Having won the title in 2025, even despite the injuries that came at the end of the season and have clearly conditioned his winter preparation, successfully defending the crown is the only objective for Marquez in 2026.

“We must fight for the title one more time,” he said.

“We have the pressure. If you are in the Ducati Lenovo Team you must fight for the championship and it’s what we will try to do. 

“For that reason, I worked a lot this winter to try to prepare, to try to recover in a good way, and we are in a process, so the target is to fight for the championship.”

A title in 2026 would be Marquez’s 10th in total, and his eighth in the premier class. Significant numbers, particularly the latter, since it would see him equal Giacomo Agostini for the record of top class world titles.

However, the numerical possibilities of 2026 do not bring additional pressure or motivation to Marquez.

“For me, the most difficult challenge of my career I already did, that was to come back from a nightmare, and last year we closed the circle,” he explained.

“Now, of course we will try to fight for the championship because [it is] for that reason we are a MotoGP rider, to fight and to be competitive, but [if] arrives the championship [it is] welcome, but if not it will be not a disaster.”